Goodbye Mr. Loser fails to live up to its name

A poster for Goodbye Mr. Loser is displayed in Beijing. The comedy had earned more than 900 million yuan in ticket sales as of Monday. FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY

A comedy film without celebrities and with all its actors making their movie debuts raked in 593 million yuan ($93 million) at the Chinese box office over the National Day holiday.

The actors in Goodbye Mr. Loser are all stage performers who honed their comedic skills during live performances.

The movie's surprising success came as the seven-day holiday saw another record for the nation's film industry, with box office takings of 1.85 billion yuan.

Goodbye Mr. Loser is the first movie made by Mahua FunAge Production Co Ltd, which is due to become the first comedy stage show producer to be listed in China.

The film, released on Sep 30, is widely believed to have given a significant boost to the company's valuation and stock price.

It had taken more than 900 million yuan in ticket sales as of Monday, just behind the highest-grossing film being shown at the same time－Lost in Hong Kong. This movie has earned 1.56 billion yuan to date, according to EntGroup Consulting, an entertainment industry consultancy in Beijing.

Mahua FunAge released its prospectus to the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, also known as the New Third Board, a day before Goodbye Mr. Loser was released.

The company's annual revenue in 2013 and last year was 118 million yuan and 150 million yuan respectively, with net profit of 34.6 million yuan and 40.7 million yuan. In the first half of this year, it has seen revenue of 83 million yuan and 17.88 million yuan in net profit.

More than 95 percent of its revenue comes from stage plays and related products, with 90 percent of income from ticket sales.

Founded in 2003, Mahua FunAge Production specializes in producing and distributing comedy stage shows. As of November 2013, it had produced more than 20 plays and three musicals.